Finally, we have the great promise of joy. Up till now you have ye asked nothing in my name, because you have been able to ask me, says Christ in effect.
So let us take a theological, well-educated Christian, who reads the Scriptures, reads good books, worships and so on, but doesn’t do anything for the Lord, and has no great life of service for him. That is a major department, the mission of Christ about which we will pray: for our pupils in the Sunday School, for our relatives, for people for whom we are witnessing, our street work, whatever it is. As we pray, we will be strengthened, we will receive answers. Don’t you know, says the Lord, that that is one of the major ways that I communicate certainty and assurance, simply by answered prayer? So the theoretical Christian may be sound and he may be sincere, but he is not engaged in anything for which he needs to pray, and will therefore lose a large amount of assurance and joy. We need to take this extremely seriously.